Up In The Air
by jamespotterdidntstrut
Summary: James teaches Lily how to ride a broom.


"You were right," Lily came crashing down on the couch in Gryffindor common room, letting out the quietest of sighs as she tilted her head to look over at a relaxed James Potter.

His eyes widened, looking just the slightest bit taken aback by her comment, the ghost of a "What?" hanging on his lips. He shook his head quickly and was back to normal, a smile sliding easily across his face. "Of course I was right, Evans," he boasted, draping an arm around her shoulders. "But, uh, what exactly was it that I was right about this time?"

She laughed, leaning away from him just a bit so she could look at him head on. "You've been telling me for months that I should learn how to properly ride a broom." She qualified, watching his smile widen as his mind worked out what she was saying. "You were right, I should."

James' jaw dropped and his eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas morning. In fact, maybe even a bit more. The two things that James loved most, finally coming together. "You're not just teasing me, are you?" He questioned, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he searched her face for his answer. "Because that would be a million different kinds of cruel. Even for you,"

"I am not cruel!" She laughed, leaning against the back of the couch.

"You did sort of reject me about a hundred and five times in the past seven years."

She shook her head, smiling all the while. "Don't ruin this for yourself, Potter." She teased, slowly getting up from the couch and reaching out a hand for him to take. "You're only going to get the opportunity once,"

He didn't need to be told twice. James popped up from the couch faster than you could say "Snitch" and would have been skipping down to the Quidditch pitch with Lily if Marauders ever skipped. Which they didn't, if you were wondering, unless you count classes and detentions.

It was a beautiful Spring morning and the grounds were a vibrant, healthy green that James and Lily both thought were unique to only Hogwarts. A splash from the Black Lake indicated that even the Giant Squid was enjoying the fair weather, and James was surprised to find that the Quidditch pitch was absolutely empty when they finally reached it. Then again, Hogwarts was a big place. Lots of other places for students to wander off to, James knew that better than anyone.

They walked over to the broom shed, James pulling the doors open with a grunt and disappearing inside for only a moment before popping his head out and grinning widely at Lily who simply stood there.

"Oh, just get the brooms." She laughed, playfully pushing him back into the shed.

"As you wish," he called from within, returning seconds later with one of the older school brooms in his hand, holding it our for her to take.

"I've got to use this ratty old thing?" She stared at it, questioning it's reliability. As she grabbed it, a twig fell from it's end, then another and another.

James nodded, excitement so clearly plastered on his face. "I love you, Lily, you know that, but there is no way in hell that I'm going to let you ride mine. Or at least not the kind you're-"

"Alright!" She cried, stifling a laugh and pulling the poor, old broom to her. "We'll save _that_ kind of riding lesson for later." She winked, the color rising just a bit in her cheeks.

"I look forward to it."

"Let's just get on with it," she sighed, leaning on one leg and moving the broom between hands.

His eyes widened a bit. "What? Here? On the Quidditch pitch? Well if you insist…"

"I meant the flying!"

"Oh, right, yes. Of course…" He stammered, clearing his throat. "Okay, so first you mount the broom." He instructed, nodding for her to go ahead with it as he stood back and watched. "You just… no, not like that! Merlin's sake, Evans. You're even worse than I thought." He said loudly, taking the few strides over to her, ready to demonstrate just exactly how it should be done.

She rolled her eyes at him, gripping the broom tighter. "Well I wasn't exactly raised to enjoy flying about on ordinary household items, was I?" She justified, ready to try again.

"That's a tragedy," he said solemnly. "You should see what Sirius and I can do with a…blendy…mixes stuff…really loud…"

"A blender?" She asked, skepticism lacing her words.

"Yes! A blender. Like I was saying, you should-"

"What on Earth did you two do?"

James shrugged. "Nothing, nothing. It was summer, we were bored. Let's just say Mrs. Harold's cat didn't necessarily _climb _up that tree like everyone thought."

"I'm not going to get stuck in a tree, am I?" She asked, suddenly regretting her decision. And she wasn't even off of the ground yet.

"Not unless you want to." He smirked, humming to the tune of "James and Lily, sitting in a tree…" until she reached out and smacked him, which didn't take long. "Okay, fine, no trees." He raised his arms in surrender, a smile still playing around his lips. "Now, mount the broom," he tried not to laugh too hard, thinking of the implications she ignored.

She did as she was told, looking to him for further instructions.

"Shouldn't you already know the basics?" He asked, looking her over as she prepared to kick off from the ground as he instructed. "There were those classes in first year, I remember. Favorite part of the day, those were,"

"I never quite got the hang of it," she admitted, slightly embarrassed.

"Lucky for you, I happen to be an excellent teacher. Fantastic Quidditch player, too. And it's not just my opinion. Ask anyone,"

"So modest," she teased, just before kicking off from the ground and hovering several feet above where she had been just seconds before. "Now what do I do?"

"Have you ever thought about something really hard, like if you thought about it enough it could actually happen?" James asked, staring up at her with a look like adoration on his face.

Lily nodded slowly, arms shaking as she held on tightly. "Why?"

"It's sort of like that," he said, thinking his next words over. "Flying's not that hard once you get the hang of it, but you've got to let the broom know where you want to go. Jerking and steering it will only get you so far," he explained. "There's more to it than that, which is what a lot of people forget. You've got to feel it. You've got to be a part of it so what you think, it thinks. So where you want to go, it goes."

She looked down at him, relaxing a little as she listened to his words. "That's sort of beautiful," she said at last, a smile creeping across her face.

He shrugged, not thinking too much about it. Flying was second nature to him, just as easy as breathing or blinking. It seemed only natural to him, the things he was telling her.

"You think you've got it then?" He wondered, squinting into the sunlight. She nodded, a little unsure, and he continued. "You're going to want to fly that way," he pointed towards the right. "Or else the sun's going to get into your eyes and you'll probably fall off."

"Fall off?"

"Kidding, kidding…sort of." He kicked absentmindedly at the ground. "Just don't think about that."

"Yeah, I'll try not to." Sarcasm. And then she was off with the slightest lean forward and a mantra of _Please don't let me fall off. Please don't let me fall off… _playing in her head.

It was a mess at first. James stood on the ground, howling with laughter as the broom jerked left and Lily swerved right, the broom bucked up and Lily swung down. It was utterly a sad sight to behold. A sad and hilarious sight.

"Stop laughing!" She screamed down from about twenty feet up in the air, her words raising and falling in pitch to match her brooms movements.

"I can't!" He choked out between breaths. "You look ridiculous."

"You're the one who taught me!" She yelled back, finally steadying herself in the air, taking a deep breath and preparing to try again. This time was better, the broom slowly taking direction from her movements instead of the other way around. In what seemed like no time at all, she was gliding along with at least a little confidence.

She leaned down against the broom, guiding it towards the ground and James who had gotten a hold of her laughter at last.

"What do you think?" He asked once she was in ear shot. "Going to join the team?"

"I don't think so, Potter. I can't go around fulfilling too many of your fantasies in one day."

"I wouldn't object." He smiled up at her with that impish glint in his hazel eyes.

She ignored him, instead giving way to a though that had been running around in her mind all morning. "Have you got that blasted snitch on you?" She inquired, taking him by surprise.

"'Course I do. She never leaves my side," he said proudly, pattins affectionately at his pocket.

"She?"

"Yes, she! My snitch. My other girlfriend. You've got some competition, Evans." He challenged with a smirk.

Lily laughed, the broom shaking violently as she did until she immediately stopped to steady it and keep herself on it. "I'm not too threatened."

"You should be," said James, reaching deep into the front pocket of his pants to pull out the snitch. "I can hardly get her out of my pants."

"You think you're so clever," she accused with a grin. "Now get your butt on a broom and let that snitch go. I'm going to catch it before you."

"Oh, are you really?" He called over his shoulder, already racing to grab a broom from the shed. "And what does the winner get, exactly?"

"That depends on who wins."

He was in the air and flying circles around her almost before she could finish her sentence. Her eyes raced from side to side and he sped up and then finally came to an abrupt but graceful stop next to her, hovering just as easily as someone might lay on a bed or stand in the hallways.

"I just hope that my winning doesn't discourage you from ever flying again," he noted, releasing the snitch and catching it several times before he finally let it go.

It zoomed around Lily's head, whizzing dangerously close to her flowing hair before hovering in front of the two of them teasingly.

"Three…" James whispered, leaning down against the soft wood of his broom and waiting patiently. Lily took one look at his stance and immediately tried to copy it, only faltering slightly as the broom rocked and steadied out.

"Two…"

The snitch jetted from left to right, up and down before centering itself in front of them again. It's wings beat quickly in the air, racing to go.

"One!"

The snitch shot away from the both of them and James was hot on it's tale before Lily could even think about moving forward, but she eventually got her start and was trailing him and the snitch with a determination she didn't think would be possible on such an unsteady ride.

She quickly forgot about how far up from the safe ground she was and how the broom had shook under her, focusing only on how she wanted that snitch and how it was much closer to James than it was her.

James slowed down, looping around Lily and raising his eyebrows challengingly. "Getting tired, Evans?"

"Not even close," she replied through gritted teeth, still racing forwards towards the tiny golden ball she could just make out in the sunlight.

"Because if you are, I can think of-"

But as he talked, Lily lunged against the old broom and shot forward, stretching her arm out without even thinking what could go wrong if she let go. Her fingers closed around something cold and beating, fighting hard to break free of her loose grip and fly around once more.

Lily stopped abruptly, almost causing James to crash into her. His mouth hung open slightly as he eyed her closed fist. "Did you…you caught it." he accused, both bewildered and amused.

"I told you I would." She said coolly, but inside she was doing a victory dance.

"That was quite good." He admitted, still grinning wildly as they both returned to the ground, their feet finding the solid ground strange after being so free in the air. "You do know I let you win though,"

"Oh yes, definitely. Of course you did, James." She fluttered, leaning her unused broom against the shed wall. Her eyes mocking him as she backed him against the broom shed wall.

"I did!" He clamored, reaching out to rest a hand on her hip and pull her closer.

"Whatever you say, James. But now you owe me. I did win, after all." She reminded him, a small hand slipping behind his neck and playing with his messy hair as bit her lip to control her smile.

"And what exactly did you have in mind for your reward?" He asked, gazing at her eyes and lips in turn.

"I could think of a few things." She whispered against his lips.


End file.
